However, rationing of rainwater for consumption only during drought was widely reported, with private wells supporting non-consumptive uses. Reverse osmosis (RO) desalination units have provided relief during drought emergencies but concerns have been raised around dependency, maintenance challenges, and loss of traditional water practices. Most notably, RO use has the potential to change the anthroposhpere by adversely affecting the FWL; 86% of RO units were installed at island-centre where excessive pumping can cause upconing, making the FWL brackish. Balancing the introduction of desalination technology to mitigate water shortages with maintenance of traditional water conservation practices to preserve the quantity and quality of the FWL is a promising strategy on island atolls that requires further investigation.Eight compounds from three categories of pharmaceuticals [5 antibiotics, 2 non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and 1 anti-epileptics] were monitored at 24 sites in the tributaries of the Han River watershed in South Korea, 2016. The seasonal occurrence, temporal-spatial variation, potential compound source(s), and a risk assessment of this watershed, which is the largest drinking water source in the country, were investigated. Clarithromycin was detected most frequently (72.2%) with the greatest median concentration (0.151 ± 0.072 μg L-1), followed by carbamazepine and sulfamethoxazole. The seasonality of the pharmaceuticals was observed, with higher concentrations and detection frequencies in spring than in summer and autumn; this was possibly caused by lower levels of microbial activities associated with lower water temperatures than other seasons. In terms of geographical variation, urban areas had higher pharmaceutical concentrations than rural areas, which was attributed to the former's high population density and largest wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) regardless of season. The total concentration and detection frequency of WWTPs were 12.4 and 2.5 times higher in downstream sites than upstream sites, thereby conveying that WWTPs were the main source for the presence of pharmaceuticals in tributaries. According to the results produced from calculations of the risk quotient (RQ) of aquatic organisms, clarithromycin and sulfamethazine were identified as posing relatively high ecological risk (RQ &gt; 1) during the spring that was identified for this study. This study can provide policymakers with scientific support for prioritizing pollutant management and collections of global data on emerging pollutants.Microplastics (MPs) have become a global environmental concern while soil plastic pollution has been largely overlooked. In view of the severe antibiotic contamination in arable soils owing to land application of sewage sludge and animal manure, the invasion of MPs along with antibiotics may pose an unpredictable threat to soil microbial communities and ecological health. In this work, polyethylene MPs and ciprofloxacin (CIP) were applied to a soil microcosm to investigate the CIP degradation behavior and their combined effects on soil microbial communities. Compared with that of the individual amendment of CIP, the co-amendment of CIP and MPs reduced the CIP degradation efficiency during the 35 d cultivation period. In addition, the high-throughput sequencing results illustrated that the combined loading of MPs and CIP in soil significantly decreased the microbial diversity compared with that of individual contamination. As for the community structure, the microbial compositions at the phylum level were consistent among all treatments, and the most dominant phyla were Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Chloroflexi. At the genus level, only one genus, namely Arthrobacter, was remarkably changed in the CIP-amended soil compared with that in the blank control, but four genera were significantly altered in the MPs-CIP co-amended soil. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/4-hydroxytamoxifen-4-ht-afimoxifene.html Serratia and Achromobacter were abundant in the combined polluted soil, which might have been involved in accelerated depletion of soil total nitrogen based on redundancy analysis. These findings may contribute to the understanding of bacterial responses to the combined pollution of MPs and antibiotics in soil ecosystems.Surfactants are widely used in the industry of detergents, household products, and cosmetics. SAPDMA is a cationic surfactant that is used mostly in cosmetics, conditioning agents and has recently gained attention as a corrosion inhibitor in the sea pipelines industry. In this regard, literature concerning the ecotoxicological classification of SAPDMA on aquatic animals is lacking. This study aims to evaluate the potential ecotoxicity of SAPDMA using the aquatic zebrafish embryo model. The potential toxic effects of SAPDMA were assessed by different assays. This includes (i) mortality/survival assay to assess the median lethal concentration (LC50); (ii) teratogenicity assay to assess the no observed effect concentration (NOEC); (iii) organ-specific toxicity assays including cardiotoxicity, neurotoxicity (using locomotion assay), hematopoietic toxicity (hemoglobin synthesis using o-dianisidine staining), hepatotoxicity (liver steatosis and yolk retention using Oil Red O (ORO) stain); (iv) cellular cytotoxicity (mitochondrial membrane potential) by measuring the accumulation of JC-1 dye into mitochondria. Exposure of embryos to SAPDMA caused mortality in a dose-dependent manner with a calculated LC50 of 2.3 mg/L. Thus, based on the LC50 value and according to the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Acute Toxicity Rating Scale, SAPDMA is classified as "moderately toxic". The No Observed Effect Concentration (NOEC) concerning a set of parameters including scoliosis, changes in body length, yolk, and eye sizes was 0.1 mg/L. At the same NOEC concentration (0.1 mg/L), no organ-specific toxicity was detected in fish treated with SAPDMA, except hepatomegaly with no associated liver dysfunctions. However, higher SAPDMA concentrations (0.8 mg/L) have dramatic effects on zebrafish organ development (eye, heart, and liver development). Our data recommend a re-evaluation of the SAPDMA employment in the industry setting and its strictly monitoring by environmental and public health agencies.